LaserSoft Imaging

Greetings all:

I've begun a project to scan all my 35mm color negs. Some go back nearly forty years and are Kodacolor X. I have a few hundred rolls. The vast majority of these are just family party shots and stuff (I shot slides and MF B&W for my serious work) but as time has passed I realize there is a lot of stuff that the family would like to see.

The plan is (which I've already started) to bring large (800x600) thumbnails into Lightroom using my Epson 3200 Photo flatbed scanner and using them to print out enlarged contact sheets for future reference. Then I'll select the best images, rescan them using my Minolta 5400 film scanner, and print.

I downloaded the latest Epson driver and it is giving fairly decent results but I'm worried what happens when I re-scan with the film scanner as that driver is old. I've heard a lot of good things about Silverfast but to date have never used other than the mfgr software. The most important reason for me taking this step would be to get the best image quality possible on the older negs without me having to manually color correct.

I'm confused about which version would be best. Money is always important but is not the primary factor here. And of course I'm looking to improve from the mfgr s/w, else what's the point?

1. Would AI be the way to go?

2. Am I expected to purchase two copies, one for each scanner? Or would a single copy work for both?

3. I have a version (unopened) that probably came with a scanner, it's SE6. Would that qualify me for some kind of upgrade?

4. I'm running XP Pro and probably will be for a while, I take it down the line it will be upgraded?

Thanks,
Denton


1.

Dear Denton,

denton wrote:1. Would AI be the way to go?

It depends on what you want to achieve and what exactly you need. Perhaps you might want to use SE for your flatbed scanner and Ai for the film scanner.
The best way is to download and test both demo versions, in that way you will have a better idea of what each version has and which tools you really need for your idea.

denton wrote:2. Am I expected to purchase two copies, one for each scanner? Or would a single copy work for both?

Appart from the fact the SilverFast has been designed in modules to work with the different scanner models, SilverFast license works like an operating system's license, one for each scanner. So, yeah, you will need two separate licenses.

denton wrote:3. I have a version (unopened) that probably came with a scanner, it's SE6. Would that qualify me for some kind of upgrade?

SilverFast generation 6 goes from version 6 up to 6.4.4 and the next product generation of SilverFast goes from 6.5 up to the actual version. You have free updates within a product generation, if you want to go from one generation to the next, it is necessary to purchase an upgrade. But having one serial number will give you certain discount on our online store, further details can be found at: http://www.silverfast.com/show/store/en.html

denton wrote:4. I'm running XP Pro and probably will be for a while, I take it down the line it will be upgraded?

I do not quite get this question, SilverFast will be updated to work with the current operating systems, old operating systems might be not supported anymore after a while (like win 98 is not supported now).

Best Regards